在享用精致的芝士蛋糕和咖啡时，73岁的童蕙媛和她丈夫津津乐道地聊起了他们2019年的欧洲旅行，以及他们和邻居们一起参加的许多活动。 在浙江省杭州市，这对夫妇和其他志趣相投的老年人在良渚文化村的一个老年公寓里安度晚年。公寓专门面向老年人，满足他们娱乐和生活方面的需求。 公寓与养老院的概念不同。养老院的居民共享生活空间，需要全天医疗照顾；公寓除了提供必要的服务和配套设施，比如食物和医疗保健外，还有许多休闲娱乐生活的调剂——从健身房到电影放映厅、图书馆，应有尽有。 在这里，来自全国各地的56岁至102岁的居民退休后过着有尊严的体面生活。 他们的养老方式挑战了中国的传统观念——老人养老，必须住在离子女近的地方，方便照顾。 Residents at Suiyuan Jiashu senior apartments attend an event in Liangzhu Culture Village of Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. /Suiyuan Jiashu senior apartments Over cheesecake and coffee, Tong Huiyan and her husband spoke with great fondness about their 2019 Europe trip and the many activities they enjoy with their neighbors. The couple are living life large in their golden years in a compound in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, with other like-minded people. But make no mistake, their small but cozy apartment is not at a nursing home. Instead, the septuagenarians live in a senior apartment community in Liangzhu Culture Village. The community is specifically geared towards the elderly and caters to their needs, recreational and otherwise. It's a different concept from rest homes, where residents share living spaces and require full-time medical attention. The compound, which houses over 1,200 retirees, offers essential but optional services like food and medical care, as well as all the trappings of modern life, from a gym to a movie theater and a library. Here, residents from different parts of China, aged between 56 and 102, lead a dignified life after retirement. Their modern lifestyle challenges the traditional belief in China that the elderly must stay close to their children to be taken care of. 从被质疑到支持 童蕙媛和她的丈夫退休前一直住在上海，当他们和朋友们说起移居杭州的决定时，朋友们起初并不能理解。在朋友们看来，他们身体健康，也有能力照顾自己，不需要搬去老年公寓。 童蕙媛解释了他们想和已婚女儿分开住的原因，让双方有一些独立空间，这样女儿就可以把精力集中在自己小家庭身上。 “我的女儿和女婿支持我们的决定，他们也希望我们过上幸福的生活。”童蕙媛补充道，每个人都对目前的安排感到满意。 “如果女儿他们遇到困难，我们也会帮助他们。但他们也需要独立生活，包括独立教育女儿。” 虽然有距离，但家庭成员之间还是很亲密的。童蕙媛的女儿经常在周末来探望她，有些时候也会在这里待上几天。 73-year-old Tong Huiyuan and her granddaughter. /Tong Huiyuan From doubt to support Tong and her husband have lived in Shanghai before retirement. Their decision to move to Hangzhou was met with doubt and confusion. "When we informed our Shanghai schoolmates about our relocation, they did not quite understand. They asked why we'd go to a senior institution when we are healthy and capable of taking care of ourselves," Tong told CGTN. For China's elderly, living close to children and friends is the way to go, or so the traditional thinking goes. Moving out at an old age conjures up images of medical facilities and nursing homes and is often associated with ill health and inability to self-care. But Tong and her neighbors are proving skeptics and traditionalists wrong, showing everyone that age is but a number and that life after retirement is not bereft of color and flavor. The couple said they wanted to have some space away from their married daughter so she can lead her own life and they can carry on with theirs. "My daughter and son-in-law support us. They also wish that we can live a happy life," said Tong, adding that everyone is satisfied with the current arrangement. "We keep our space from our daughter's family. Everyone needs space," Tong added. "If they encounter difficulties, we must help. But they also need to lead their own life independently, including educating their daughter on their own." But out of sight doesn't mean out of mind. Despite the distance, there's still intimacy among the family members. Tong's daughter often visits on weekends, and during some holidays, she stays for days at a time. "This is the state all of us want," Tong said cheerfully. 方便与安心 程丽丽夫妇住在童蕙媛夫妇对门。由于他们唯一的儿子生活在国外，这对夫妇卖掉了他们在老家绍兴的房子，并在2015年从绍兴搬到杭州，租了现在的老年公寓。 “我们都70多岁了，儿子很担心我们，”程丽丽说。“但是我和我丈夫不想打扰他。儿子也需要照顾自己的孩子，他的工作也不容易。” “如果我们身体不舒服，或者家里什么东西坏了，总有人及时上门帮忙。如果我不想做饭，食堂就在楼下，”她说。 程丽丽觉得老年公寓的生活比在绍兴家里要轻松，因为在家里从做饭到打扫，所有家务事都是不可避免的。 73-year-old Cheng Lili. /Cheng Lili Convenience and calm Cheng Lili and her husband live across the hall from Tong. The couple sold their house in their hometown of Shaoxing, also in Zhejiang, and rented their current apartment in 2015. With their only son living abroad, changing cities was not a contentious affair. "We are in our 70s and our son worries a lot about us," said Cheng. "But my husband and I don't want to bother him. He has children and his job is not easy." "If we feel under the weather or something in the house does not work, there are always people on call and they come over fast. If I don't want to cook, the cafeteria is downstairs," she said. It's an easier life than in Shaoxing where domestic chores, from cooking and cleaning, were inescapable. But it's not just convenience that Cheng likes about this place. Peace of mind matters as well. Her husband is a big fan of dancing, but in Shaoxing she used to worry about his safety whenever he'd ride his scooter to parks for dancing performances. Now, he can take classes on-premise and her worries are put to rest. Cheng says there's no looking back after moving to her new house. "We will not change our current apartment anymore, and will not stay long in Shaoxing where no one can take care of us for the rest of our lives," said Cheng. "I hope I can stay here till the end with assurance and ease." 96岁，也可以“躁”起来！ 汪德钟多年前曾构想过自己的退休生活：和一些朋友建一座带庭院的大房子，大家住在一起，互相扶持。 今年96岁的他，已实现了这个梦想。 汪德钟来自福建省福州市，在老家与他同龄的朋友并不多。不过在杭州的老年公寓里，汪德钟交到了很多和他同龄的朋友。 他还和朋友们组建了一个名叫“老男孩”的组合，组合的平均年龄为88岁。他们每天聚在一起唱歌，不仅娱乐自己，还上台表演。在他们的才华被口口相传后，这个“老男孩”组合甚至被邀请到央视总台进行表演。 除了交友，公寓也丰富了老人们的日常生活。公寓里有20多个俱乐部，包括摄影、油画、中国书法和瑜伽等。 Wang Dezhong (R2) and his band Old Boys perform during a TV program on China Central Television. /Suiyuan Jiashu senior apartments
Still rocking at 96
Wang Dezhong, 96, is living his dream life after retirement. In his younger years, he imagined he'd build a big house with a courtyard where he and some of his good friends would live together and support each other. Staying at a senior apartment was a good approximation. The man is from Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province. Friends of the same age were in short supply where he used to live, and although his son lived nearby, Wang didn't want to be a burden on his kids. "My son and daughter have their own families. It's impossible to let them keep me company every day," Wang told CGTN. His new community in Hangzhou however is a "place of connection" as the man put it. Planned activities and different workshops bring people with the same interest together and help strangers turn into friends. "I find new friends here with shared interests. Closing the door is my private home. Opening the door, I have so many friends and my [social] circle," Wang said. He even managed to start a music band, deftly named "Old Boys." The four-member group has an average age of 88 but old age doesn't stop them from having fun. They get together daily, belting out songs and entertaining themselves and others. After word got out about their talent, the boy band was invited to perform on shows on local and national TV. There are more than 20 clubs in the community, from photography and oil painting to Chinese calligraphy and yoga. 2000年，我国65岁以上人口超过8800万，占总人口的7%，中国开始步入老龄化社会。根据国家统计局的数据，到2019年底，这一数字翻了一番，达到1.76亿，占总人口数的12.6%。 中国发展研究基金会发布的《中国发展报告2020：中国人口老龄化的发展趋势和政策》指出：到本世纪中叶，中国人口老龄化将达到最高峰，65岁及以上老年人口占比将接近30%。 如何帮助老年人过上幸福而有质量的生活是整个社会必须处理的问题之一。 目前，我国有三种基本的养老方式：居家养老、社区养老和机构养老。 南开大学经济学院教授、老龄化发展研究中心主任原新表示：“根据我们对健康老人的调查，超过90%以上的老人想住在自己的房子中。” 原新告诉CGTN，在以上三种养老方式中，居家养老的经济成本和心理成本相对较低。 对于童蕙媛和她的邻居们来说，租住在老年公寓，是新时代老年人的一种生活方式。 童蕙媛还表示，养老没有统一模式，没有固定标准，选择适合自己的养老方式才是最重要的。 China became an aging society in 2000 when people aged above 65 exceeded 88 million, accounting for seven percent of the whole population. By the end of 2019, that figure had doubled to 176 million or 12.6 percent of the population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. How to help seniors lead a happy and quality life is an issue the whole society must deal with. Old people in China currently have three accommodation options: staying at home, moving to nursing institutions, and assisted living in communities. "According to our survey, more than 90 percent of healthy seniors want to live at home," said Yuan Xin, director of the Research Center for Ageing Development at Nankai University. He told CGTN that among the home-based, community-based, and institution-based elderly care, the first one carries the least economic and psychological cost. "Their understanding of social development and children's career has changed. This is why nowadays elderly people, including urban seniors, are willing to stay away from their children and live with others who share similar interests," Yuan said. For Tong and her friends, renting senior apartments is a way of taking charge of their life and having a choice.